In remarks made during the Islamabad High Court’s hearing of the Tiktok ban case, IHC Chief Justice Mr Justice Athar Minallah has questioned the new social media rules, which require social media platforms to set up offices in Pakistan if they wish to operate in the country. Though the government argues that it is imposing the rules to protect citizens from harm, Mr Justice Minallah noted that they were not in consonance with Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution, which provided for freedom of information, and the citizen’s right to information, respectively. Mr Justice Minallah noted how court decisions were subject to criticism, and thus government actions had to be also.
It should be noted that freedom of information (and thus also comment) about government decisions is essential to voters for making correct decisions. In fact, that is why there is a guarantee of access to information. If citizens are unaware of what their government is doing, or if the government tries to hide what it is doing, the citizen will not be able to make informed decisions at election time. The government should note that its attempts at control are becoming increasingly obvious, and the criticism that is being voiced by civil society, is now being expressed by the judiciary, which should tell the government that its attempts are increasingly inept.
The government should realize that it is trying to apply methods evolved for controlling print and electronic media, for social media. While print media needed printing presses and electronic media OB vans, social media only needs servers, which can be placed in ordinary houses. The government seems to be relying on traditional methods suggested by a mentality that is not so much old-fashioned as outdated. That was unexpected in the case of a government headed by the PTI, which prides itself on being at home in the new media. The government needs to realize that there is no putting the lid on social media, and the new reality that government bases the electoral appeals on the truth rather than on attempts to conceal or distort facts. If this is the age of the fish-bowl, governments, being the biggest fish in it, are most exposed. The PTI’s own lack of performance is causing even the judiciary to sit up and take notice of its attempts to hide the truth.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/06/the-courts-weigh-in/
The courts weigh in: Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 7, 2020
In remarks made during the Islamabad High Court’s hearing of the Tiktok ban case, IHC Chief Justice Mr Justice Athar Minallah has questioned the new social media rules, which require social media platforms to set up offices in Pakistan if they wish to operate in the country. Though the government argues that it is imposing the rules to protect citizens from harm, Mr Justice Minallah noted that they were not in consonance with Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution, which provided for freedom of information, and the citizen’s right to information, respectively. Mr Justice Minallah noted how court decisions were subject to criticism, and thus government actions had to be also.
It should be noted that freedom of information (and thus also comment) about government decisions is essential to voters for making correct decisions. In fact, that is why there is a guarantee of access to information. If citizens are unaware of what their government is doing, or if the government tries to hide what it is doing, the citizen will not be able to make informed decisions at election time. The government should note that its attempts at control are becoming increasingly obvious, and the criticism that is being voiced by civil society, is now being expressed by the judiciary, which should tell the government that its attempts are increasingly inept.
The government should realize that it is trying to apply methods evolved for controlling print and electronic media, for social media. While print media needed printing presses and electronic media OB vans, social media only needs servers, which can be placed in ordinary houses. The government seems to be relying on traditional methods suggested by a mentality that is not so much old-fashioned as outdated. That was unexpected in the case of a government headed by the PTI, which prides itself on being at home in the new media. The government needs to realize that there is no putting the lid on social media, and the new reality that government bases the electoral appeals on the truth rather than on attempts to conceal or distort facts. If this is the age of the fish-bowl, governments, being the biggest fish in it, are most exposed. The PTI’s own lack of performance is causing even the judiciary to sit up and take notice of its attempts to hide the truth.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/06/the-courts-weigh-in/
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan